Initially, I was planning to go for Turkey after Prague. But I didn't plan enough to be flying to Turkey and I was wanting to go up the mountains and be far away from the massive tourist crowds. A few days before I left for Poland, I got to chat with Greg & Helen, my good friends in New Zealand. Greg was born in Poland though and his family migrated to NZ when he was still young. So with their suggestion about places in Poland, I decided last minute to go on a side trip and explore.
Krakow is the second largest city in Poland and was once the capital back in 1038. It is said to be in the center of continental Europe and was also known to be a bustling trade center back in the days. It was interesting when I got reading about the etymology of the name Krakow. Apparently it originated from the name Krak, a legendary Polish prince. In pre-Slavic meaning, it reads as "judge's staff". However, based on other historians claims, they say it just means "oak".
There's a lot of history that goes around the Wawel Castle, the beautiful structure that they say Krak built above a cave where the dragon Smok Wawelski lived. It was really interesting staring at the castle and imagining the legend and all of what they were wearing centuries ago. I seem to be doing that a lot on the Europe trip, with all of the history and architecture that goes around the cities and towns I've been passing through.
I chose to stay at Greg's hostel (yeah Mr.G i thought it but fitting to), right along Florianska, conveniently located in town and close to the train and bus station. The moment I walked along the street, I then felt a little bit away from the craze that I experienced in Prague, and I was liking it. The sun was a little bit hot as I got up the flight of stairs to reception.
There was a blond Polish girl and guy who received me. First time that I had to be seated and walked through all of the notes and reminders, before I could be checked in. What did they emphasize? the Pub crawls. okay, at that point i was thinking... oh no....... I can see what's going to happen here. Along with that was a voucher for a welcome vodka shot.
I booked myself in a 6-bed dorm and was happy that I had it all to myself. I initially just booked 1 night coz I was still contemplating on going to Zakopane the following day. But then I decided to extend for another night, just to be told that it'll be full so I had to move to the 12-bed dorm. I said okay to that.
It was around almost 7 pm when I was settled in. They didn't have laundry so I decided to do a little bit of washing and just hang out by the window. The hostel offered free dinner everyday, so I signed up and waited till it was 7:30. I lined up and started chatting with the first person queued up. I did forget her name, but I do remember that she was from the US and now working in the special education sector in Beijing. We ended up chatting and I eventually joined her table for dinner. The serving was really good and we enjoyed the sausage. I even got my second serving.
By the time we were done, we moved to the terrace. She had her smokes and I had my beer, so we just relaxed for a while. I made sure I booked myself for all of the tours the following day, not wanting to miss the highlights.
The table across us was filled up with 5 boys, not as rowdy, but one guy shouted hello when she passed by. She went back to the table and asked if he was talking to her. After a few seconds, she was invited over to that table...and that goes without saying that I had joined in... As much as I didn't want to, part of me didn't want to be a party spoiler either. So I gave in. Apparently, it was a table of Aussie guys, and of course the table filled up with booze was proof enough. They didn't seem to be in their 20's nor 30's..more of i'd say mid 30's to 40's, except for the youngest looking who was 28. They were all planning to join the pub crawl and they tried to convince me to join in but I just had to say no. I didn't want to waste the following day going through the tours with a massive headache and hangover. I didn't regret it at all.
I said goodbye to the group and to the girl and called it a night. I left the windows open to dry up my clothes and tried to sleep through the night despite the noisy couple fighting outside, girl yelling at boy <sound of slapping>, and it goes over and over again....at 2 am. Definitely tourists coz I understood the whole conversation.
Krakow is the second largest city in Poland and was once the capital back in 1038. It is said to be in the center of continental Europe and was also known to be a bustling trade center back in the days. It was interesting when I got reading about the etymology of the name Krakow. Apparently it originated from the name Krak, a legendary Polish prince. In pre-Slavic meaning, it reads as "judge's staff". However, based on other historians claims, they say it just means "oak".
There's a lot of history that goes around the Wawel Castle, the beautiful structure that they say Krak built above a cave where the dragon Smok Wawelski lived. It was really interesting staring at the castle and imagining the legend and all of what they were wearing centuries ago. I seem to be doing that a lot on the Europe trip, with all of the history and architecture that goes around the cities and towns I've been passing through.
I chose to stay at Greg's hostel (yeah Mr.G i thought it but fitting to), right along Florianska, conveniently located in town and close to the train and bus station. The moment I walked along the street, I then felt a little bit away from the craze that I experienced in Prague, and I was liking it. The sun was a little bit hot as I got up the flight of stairs to reception.
There was a blond Polish girl and guy who received me. First time that I had to be seated and walked through all of the notes and reminders, before I could be checked in. What did they emphasize? the Pub crawls. okay, at that point i was thinking... oh no....... I can see what's going to happen here. Along with that was a voucher for a welcome vodka shot.
I booked myself in a 6-bed dorm and was happy that I had it all to myself. I initially just booked 1 night coz I was still contemplating on going to Zakopane the following day. But then I decided to extend for another night, just to be told that it'll be full so I had to move to the 12-bed dorm. I said okay to that.
It was around almost 7 pm when I was settled in. They didn't have laundry so I decided to do a little bit of washing and just hang out by the window. The hostel offered free dinner everyday, so I signed up and waited till it was 7:30. I lined up and started chatting with the first person queued up. I did forget her name, but I do remember that she was from the US and now working in the special education sector in Beijing. We ended up chatting and I eventually joined her table for dinner. The serving was really good and we enjoyed the sausage. I even got my second serving.
By the time we were done, we moved to the terrace. She had her smokes and I had my beer, so we just relaxed for a while. I made sure I booked myself for all of the tours the following day, not wanting to miss the highlights.
The table across us was filled up with 5 boys, not as rowdy, but one guy shouted hello when she passed by. She went back to the table and asked if he was talking to her. After a few seconds, she was invited over to that table...and that goes without saying that I had joined in... As much as I didn't want to, part of me didn't want to be a party spoiler either. So I gave in. Apparently, it was a table of Aussie guys, and of course the table filled up with booze was proof enough. They didn't seem to be in their 20's nor 30's..more of i'd say mid 30's to 40's, except for the youngest looking who was 28. They were all planning to join the pub crawl and they tried to convince me to join in but I just had to say no. I didn't want to waste the following day going through the tours with a massive headache and hangover. I didn't regret it at all.
I said goodbye to the group and to the girl and called it a night. I left the windows open to dry up my clothes and tried to sleep through the night despite the noisy couple fighting outside, girl yelling at boy <sound of slapping>, and it goes over and over again....at 2 am. Definitely tourists coz I understood the whole conversation.
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